The Ultimate Castle Monday
by LittleLizzieZentara
Summary: The Caskett Shippers are fed up with Kate Beckett's wall keeping the detective from Castle. Having broken through the 4th wall, they are now going to demolish it to dust. Complete crack fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is what happens when I read a bunch of fan fics where the authors are irritated by Kate's stubbornness to not let down that wall that keeps her from Castle. This is a Total Crack Fiction story. Hopefully it will give you guys a laugh.**

The Caskett shippers were growing restless. Time was slipping away, week by week, month by month. Still the walls remained as impenetrable as ever.

Yes, walls. Because there were two walls these shippers was dealing with. One was affectionately referred to as "the 4th wall," the wall between the reality the shippers lived in and the fantasy world Rick Castle and Kate Beckett lived in. That wall didn't bother them so much. If the other wall would come down, most would remain quite content to remain behind that outer barrier. The other wall was built by Kate Beckett herself. The shippers referred to it by many different names: stubbornness, idiocy, denial, fear...The names went on and on, translated into a multitude of languages. For these shippers came from many countries and spoke many different languages. Granted, the majority may be from America (although there were some doubts about that) but there were hundreds, thousands, possibly (or probably) millions of others from around the globe.

Those that were able watched as their beloved detective was shot on that heartbreaking Monday. (Although some had to find creative ways to be able to watch their favorite duo, since they didn't have access to the simple means others did, namely, Castle Mondays.) Most cheered when they heard their favorite writer finally admit his feelings. They all groaned in unison when the detective denied remembering anything later when Castle visited her in the hospital. Many grew angry when months passed-although to them it was mere minutes-and there was no contact between the pair they referred to as Caskett.

Finally, they'd had enough. The rumblings started in the East Coast of the US and swiftly spread to the West. From there the discontent grew in volume and within hours wrapped around the globe.

Most were surprised when they realized they were suddenly standing in front of a wall bigger than the Great Wall of China. Even those who didn't get to watch the focal point of their obsession until days later were in attendance.

Natalie Elizabeth, referred to by her friends as Nat, was one of those shippers that had to wait until WEDNESDAY (how cruel was that?) to see the latest on Caskett. Lizzie, who had been on the verge of weeping and wailing and gnashing her teeth when her beloved detective went down, quickly filled the other girl in. Similar conversations were taking place throughout the wave of humanity.

It didn't take long for most of them to realize what it was: the 4th wall. The fact that there was a giant '4' rising majestically above it had a lot to do with it. The sight of the number was familiar to the majority of them. The aqua color of the '4' made the shippers smile. Somehow they instinctively knew the color was a blending of the color of Caskett's eyes.

It was surprisingly simple to get through that first wall. By chanting "Always"-even those who didn't know English recognized the power of that word-and banging on the structure, they made it come down with a resounding crash.

Anything that might cause division among them became irrelevant. Age, ethnicity, gender, religion, none of it mattered. They were all unified in their purpose to FINALLY demolish the wall that had been causing them such grief.

For YEARS they had waited for Castle to break down the wall that imprisoned their favorite detective. Castle had made chips in the wall, certainly. There were even missing boards scattered about. (The shippers knew this because some of those pieces were directly on the other side of the 4th wall.) But the shippers had been banging their heads against that wall for so long that not a one of them could remember living without excruciating migraines.

With heads throbbing unmercifully, they made their way to their destination-the 12th precinct and the wall of one Detective Kate Beckett.

**So, what did you guys think? Please R&R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I wrote this second chapter even before responding to the reviews for chapter one! Ideas for this story were bombarding me all day, and I knew I wouldn't get a moment's peace from my muse until I gave you all another chapter. Just FYI, in the story it is now Tuesday morning. You can just think of it as a REALLY long multi-day Monday, since none of the shippers have slept yet anyway, so for them it feels like it's the same day.**

**In case you're wondering, yes, I am the 'Lizzie' in this story. (I just couldn't resist!) Nat is Natalie Elizabeth, a fellow fan fiction author. I wasn't sure if I should post this story or not, and she gave me the encouragement I needed to share my crazy idea with all of you. If you need a regular Castle story (but absolutely wonderful; read my reviews for that story, and you'll know what I mean; better yet, read the story) after reading another chapter of my odd tale, Nat's story "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" would be a great place to start.**

**Disclaimer: I can only wish. Maybe I'll have a dream sometime where I get to be in an episode. That would be so cool!**

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><p>"Yo, Beckett, you have to come see this!"<p>

Wondering what Esposito could be so worked up about this early in the morning when they didn't even have a case, Kate walked over to the fellow detective. Her eyes went wide at the mob of people surrounding the precinct. The crowd went as far as her eyes could see and beyond.

"Wha-?" Kate was too shocked to finish even that one word.

"Detectives, would you mind telling me why there is a mob outside of my precinct?" Captain Gate's voice came from behind Kate. Both detectives spun around, neither having any idea about what to say.

"I can answer that," Detective Ryan said, having stepped out the elevators just in time to hear the Captain's comment. "They call themselves the Caskett shippers."

"And you know this how?" Gates asked.

"They told me," he said simply. "All of them. In unison. Weirdest thing I'd ever seen."

"So you're telling me this mob works in transferring coffins?" Gates' tone was skeptical. "Why in the world are they here?"

Ryan shook his head. "Not those kinds of shippers," he said.

"Oh no," Kate had a horrible suspicion that she knew where this was going. Memories of her conversation with Castle about shippers, people emotionally invested in another's relationship, rushed to the forefront of her mind.

"Yep," Ryan didn't bother to contain his grin. "'Cas' for Castle, 'kett' for Beckett. Caskett."

That's ridiculous!" Gates said. "Richard Castle and Detective Beckett aren't even dating!"

"Which is why they're here," Ryan said. "They're asking for Beckett."

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><p>"What if Beckett doesn't come out?" one of the shippers asked worriedly. "What if she sneaks out the back door or something?"<p>

"She won't," Star, another shipper that was standing ten people away from the worried soul, said reassuringly. "Gates wouldn't let her. We're too big of a crowd to be ignored. It wouldn't look good to the higher ups and you know that's what Iron Gates cares about."

Lizzie couldn't help but giggle at the conversation. Part of it was the euphoric high of getting the chance to see her favorite writer and her detective live and in person (she hoped!). But the conversation sounded so much like one she and Nat would have (with Lizzie as the worrier) that she was surprised that the worried questions hadn't come out of her own mouth.

A gasp from behind them caused Lizzie and Nat to turn. Excited cries of "Castle! It's Castle!" rippled through the crowd. Lizzie and Nat started jumping up and down, as did many of the other shippers as soon as they started to realize that the writer had finally arrived.

Lizzie and Nat were towards the middle of the crowd so at first they weren't entirely certain what was going on. It only took a few minutes for them to notice the way the crowd was parting to let the man through. It reminded Lizzie of that old Bible movie she had seen a few years ago, except in this case it was a crowd being parted, rather than a huge sea. Both Lizzie's and Nat's eyes grew wide as they realized they were at the edge of one of the 'waves' and Castle would be walking right past them!

A moment later, the miracle happened. Castle walked past, no more than a foot or so away from them, two coffees in hand. Lizzie couldn't contain herself; she let out a squeal reminiscent of the way American teens used to react to seeing Elvis Presley or the Beatles. When the writer gave her a confused glance, looking her right in the eye, Lizzie became worried that she would fall into a dead faint.

Embarrassment hit Lizzie immediately after. She'd gotten the chance of a lifetime and all she could do was squeal like a pig? Argh!

She felt better when she heard another shipper give the exact same reaction. And then another. And another. And another. All the way up to the door of the precinct.

Lizzie felt a twinge of disappointment (a feeling she shared with all of the other shippers) when Beckett hadn't made an appearance by the time Castle arrived at the familiar building.

Nat's whisper of, "It's Lanie!" caused Lizzie and those nearby to search wildly for the beloved M.E. The shippers had long seen Lanie as their leader, given that the woman was Beckett's best friend and had been rooting for Caskett to get together as long as they all had.

Lizzie was puzzled when she didn't see walking anywhere through the crowd. Nat finally nudged her friend and pointed up.

"No way," Lizzie breathed. "Awesome!"

For the M.E. wasn't walking anywhere. Instead, she was being carried by the crowd. Literally. The explanation spread through the crowd: Two male shippers at the edge of the crowd furthest away from the precinct had lifted Lanie above the crowd. More shippers raised their hands, helping her to make her way through the crowd. Once it started, it didn't enter any shipper's mind to do anything other than keep it going.

Shouts of "We love you Lanie!" and "You're our hero, Lanie!" and "We're here to help, Lanie!" were heard as the M.E. passed by.

Lizzie noticed that Lanie seemed as baffled as Castle by the whole thing. She wasn't worried, though. Once the M.E. was informed what the plan was, Lizzie was sure the woman would be all for it.

"Liz, look!" Nat said a moment later. Lizzie quickly looked in the area her friend had indicated and a beaming smile graced her lips as she saw what had caught Nat's attention: Alexis and Martha had arrived.

"They look worried," Lizzie whispered.

" I wonder if we're on the news," Nat pondered aloud. "Maybe they saw a report on TV. They're probably worried about Castle."

"We didn't want to worry them!" Lizzie cried.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Nat said. "As soon as Beckett arrives-" (Where _was_ the woman, anyway?) "it won't take them long to figure it out. Especially once that wall comes crashing down!"

Lizzie was still beaming as Martha and Alexis passed by, but it didn't have quite the same thrill as seeing Castle and Lanie had. After all, Lizzie worried that Alexis was anti-Caskett, and Martha had tried to get Castle to date someone else in the last episode.

Suddenly the mood in the crowd shifted. The air of excited expectation had altered to downright hostility. None of the shippers had to be alerted to the problem.

As one, the shippers turned to face the individual that had just arrived: Gina.

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><p><strong>Sorry, guys. I can't stand cliffhangers, but this was the only place I could end this chapter.<strong>

**As always, please R&R.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry if you guys thought there were two chapters posted tonight, I just remembered something I needed to fix.**

**I really hadn't expected this chapter to end where it did. But once I'd written the last sentence, I couldn't see having the next part be a part of this. So I guess you can call this the "Gina" chapter. But don't worry-remember, I DON'T like Gina. The only one I like less is Josh. He will not be in this story, though. He is gone in the show, and that's enough for me.**

**Disclaimer: I get to write fan fics. That's enough. For now. :) And as long as Caskett gets together SOMETIME this season, I'm content to leave the show in Andrew Marlowe's capable hands. (As if I have any say in the matter. LOL)**

Rick Castle was used to fame. It wasn't uncommon for a person to ask for an autograph, or for a woman to throw herself at him. But in the over two decades he had been penning his tales, Rick had never experienced anything like this. What he had just gone through went far beyond mere fame. He had felt like royalty. Although part of him wondered if even Prince William and Kate Middleton had received the type of welcome he had.

Rick wracked his brain, trying to come up with a theory, _any_ theory, to make it all make sense. For the first time in his life, he was at a complete loss. All his brilliant imagination was able to come up with was one big giant question mark.

He had barely made it to the doors of the precinct when he heard excited voices mentioning Lanie. He whipped his head around, frantically searching for the M.E. The isle the crowd had made for him was gone.

So where was Lanie?

It was when he heard a voice cry out, "We love you, Lanie!" that he spotted her. His jaw dropped when he saw hands holding her above the mass of people, obviously guiding her towards the precinct.

Rick barely had time to process that before he noticed the crowd parting again. He wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or not when he recognized the two red heads making their way towards him.

"So, Writer Boy, is there some kind of party happening today that you forgot to tell me about?" Lanie asked once she was close enough to the man that he would be able to hear her.

Rick numbly shook his head.

"Dad, are you all right?" Alexis's tone was frantic when she reached her father's side.

"I'm fine, Pumpkin," Rick assured his daughter, putting his arm around her.

Martha put her hand on her son's shoulder, quietly asking, "Richard, what is going on?"

Rick opened his mouth to reply, not that he really had a reply in mind, when his cell phone started playing "Ding Dong, The Wicked Witch Is Dead" from 'The Wizard of Oz.'

Rick groaned. Gina was the _last _person he wanted to be dealing with right now. Considering the uniqueness of the situation, he knew avoiding her would be a very bad idea. He hadn't chosen that ring tone for her for nothing.

"Castle," he answered the phone in his usual manner.

"Richard Castle, you better tell me what is going on, and you better do it right now!" Gina yelled.

"I might if I actually had any idea myself," Rick snapped. He usually forced himself to have more patience with his ex-wife and publisher, but his patience was frayed as it was. Although the crowd seemed to be friendly towards him now, the writer knew enough about mob mentality to know that could change in a heartbeat. And there had to be thousands, if not millions, of people. Not even the entire 12th precinct would be enough to deal with them all. He wasn't even completely certain the entire NYPD force would be enough.

"Don't give me that, Richard," Gina snapped back. "This has all the markings of a Richard Castle stunt."  
>"You give me entirely too much credit," Rick told her. He might have been flattered at the thought of anyone assuming he could get a crowd this size to do <em>anything<em>, but for Gina to think it was beyond absurd.

"Richard, if you don't put a stop to this right now, so help me-"

All of a sudden, Rick heard a loud roar rumble through the crowd. He had been so focused on his argument with Gina that he had forgotten to keep an eye on the mob. The sliver of fear that shot through him quickly died as he realized that no one in the crowd faced his direction at the moment. That meant that he, Alexis and his mother weren't in immediate danger. But he had a feeling that someone else was. Although the idea seemed crazy to him, he was almost positive that person was Gina.

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><p>The shippers' had had enough. They had no intention of letting Gina through, but they were willing to be civil as long as she didn't cause any trouble. As soon as she had arrived, they quickly linked arms, creating a solid barrier against the detested blonde. It was like the child's game of Red Rover, Red Rover, and there was no way they were going to let Gina come over. And this was no game.<p>

"I can't believe she's bugging Castle," Megan, one of the shippers that was at the back of the crowd, ground out between clenched teeth, taking a menacing step towards the woman.

Leana, standing to Megan's immediate right, put a restraining hand on the other shipper's arm. "You'd better wait a minute," she warned. "Castle might not want anything bad to happen to her."

"But it's GINA!" Megan protested.

"I know," Leana said with a shudder.

"She's right," agreed Janeen, a shipper that was a few rows away from the other two girls. "You don't want to make Castle mad. And he might not be happy if his publisher ended up in the hospital."

"Fine," Megan reluctantly said, folding her arms across her chest, her lips pursed in a pout.

The shippers waited in tense silence as they listened to Gina argue with her most talented writer. Although Vicki, standing next to Janeen, muttered, "Idiot. What is she going to do if she pushes Castle too far and she loses her meal ticket?"

"I think that's what she's worried about now," Janeen whispered.

Vick's response to that was an eye-roll that looked remarkably like Beckett's own familiar response of irritation.

It was when the shippers heard Gina threaten their beloved author that they snapped. As one, they all roared with displeasure. Luckily for the stupid woman, they didn't charge at her. Instead, they all yelled with one voice, "How DARE you threaten Castle! If you don't leave right now-"

Although it came from the middle of the crowd, Lizzie could be heard shouting, "You've already made enough trouble for Caskett!"

"Yeah!" Nat shouted next. "None of us want you here. So leave. NOW!"

"You'd better listen to them," Esposito said, suddenly at Gina's side.

The shippers, all focused on Gina's insult to Castle, hadn't even noticed the Hispanic detective approach. Each one felt that no one was better qualified to handle the present irritant. After all, it was his warning that had spurred Beckett on all those months ago to take a chance on Castle. And it was Gina who had ruined everything. For that summer, at least. The shippers weren't going to give her another chance, and each shipper was certain Esposito wouldn't give her one, either.

"I'm not going anywhere," Gina hissed. "I demand to see Richard!"

"You aren't in a position to make demands," Esposito said and before Gina had a chance to respond, he slung her over his shoulder, fireman style, and stomped over to the limo that she had arrived in minutes earlier. With a disgusted grunt, he opened back door and tossed her in.

"Take her as far away from here as you can," Esposito ordered the driver. "And don't let her get within a hundred miles of this crowd. By special order of the NYPD."

"Yes, officer," the chauffer said. As soon as Esposito had slammed the door shut, the driver slammed on the gas. Within seconds, the limo was out of sight.

**The good thing about this being a short chapter-I can post it tonight. And I think I'll start on the next chapter tonight, too. Although it won't be posted until tomorrow, at the earliest. Sorry. And I WILL be getting back to "The Beckett Clones." Although now I'm starting to wonder if I'll be finishing this story first. These plot bunnies have got to stop long enough for me to get that story finished.**

**So, what did you guys think of this one? I'm not sure if it's quite as crazy as the other chapters, but the next chapter will make up for it. Promise.**

**Two things: One, if anyone of you wants to be mentioned by name in thie story, let me know. I'm looking for a few more, just in case. Anyone who says they want to be in the story, I WILL give you at least one line of dialogue or a noticable reaction to the events (sometimes that's even better). Who knows? Someone might even be able to speak with Kate or Castle, or maybe Lanie, personally. We'll have to see how it goes.**

**The other thing: I need to know how to say "Kate, Castle loves you" and "Castle loves you, Kate" in multiple languages. I'm specifically looking for Russian, French and Chinese, but I'd like to have at least 5 langues.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, it's happened again. This chapter was going to be twice as long, but the last sentence I just wrote begged to be the end. (Of the chapter, not the story; I'm not THAT mean; besides, I have some fun stuff planned for the next chapter, and the next, and the next...I THINK there will be at least three more...) It also means I can post this tonight. Yay!**

**Disclaimer: Huh. You know, after a while, I run out of ideas for what to say in these. I guess you could say that is proof that I don't own this wonderful show. I read in an interview that Andrew Marlowe has enough ideas for at least a full five seasons. I'm hoping for more, but I'll take five. For now. As long as all the shippers (and all of the other fans that aren't shippers) stay loyal to this wonderful show, I think we can easily keep the ratings high enough to keep it going. And that's WITH Caskett getting together this season. Not that I would stop watching even if it didn't happen until next season...although I'd have to find something to distract myself over the summer to keep me from going crazy...**

"I think Esposito just saved Gina's life," Rick whispered in shock. He slowly lowered his phone from where he had been holding it to his ear, listening to everything that had happened to his publisher after she had threatened him.

"Javi should have left the mob get her," Lanie muttered. Rick, Martha and Alexis all stared at her in shock. "What? It's not like they would have killed her," the M.E. defended herself.

A sudden cheer from the crowd alerted the four to Kate's presence coming up behind them. The reaction was almost as strong as it had been for when Rick had arrived, so they knew it could be no one else. Once the crowd had quieted down, Kate said, "Lanie's right. Murdering Gina would create way too much paperwork for me. And the last thing these guys want is to get on my bad side."

"Um, Beckett, I know you're the best homicide detective I've ever seen, but I don't think even YOU could handle this many people at once," Rick said.

"Actually, I could," Kate said, her voice ringing with certainty. The worried look that crossed Castle's face made her let out an uncharacteristic chuckle. "Not if they were a group of hardened criminals," she went on. "I'm good, but I'm not _that_ good. But we're not dealing with criminals here."

"How do you know that?" Alexis asked, the surprise at the detective's conviction clear in her tone.

"I know what they are," Kate answered simply.

"_What_ they are?" Rick repeated Kate's words slowly, his imagination piqued by Kate's choice of words. "What are they? Aliens? Ghosts? No wait, that wouldn't work, its daylight. That means they can't be vampires, either. They look too normal to be zombies..."

"Castle!" Kate's stern tone, one that the writer was all too familiar with, stopped Rick mid-sentence. "They're every bit as human as you and I." Kate shook her head at the disappointed look that crossed Rick's face at that bit of news.

"Then why did you say you know _what _they are, if they're just-"

"They aren't _just_ anything," Kate quickly interrupted. "They're shippers. Caskett shippers, actually."  
>It took less than a second for Rick to grasp what she meant. "Caskett? <em>That's<em> our shipper name?"

"Apparently," Kate said. "And they-" she gestured to the crowd, "are our shippers."

"Your shippers?" Alexis asked, confused. "Dad, what are you and Detective Beckett talking about?"

"You'll have to forgive my daughter," Rick said to Kate with false solemnity, "she never got into soap operas as a child. Not for mother's lack of trying."  
>"I knew you were famous, darling," Martha said with a twinkle in her eye. Having played a part in a soap opera herself, she knew exactly what her son meant by 'shipper,' especially once he'd mentioned soap operas in relation to the term. "But I have to say, I'm impressed. I had no idea you had this many people rooting for the two of you."<p>

They probably consider you the head shipper," Kate said to Lanie.

"Which is why they gave me such a warm welcome," Lanie suddenly realized.

"Lanie _is _the head shipper," said Dani, one of the few shippers lucky enough to be in the very front of the crowd. "She's done more for Caskett than anyone. But you don't have to fight the battle alone anymore, Lanie. We're here to help."

"Help?" Kate's unease at the announcement was obvious. "Help how?"

"That all depends on what type of help is needed," Gloria, standing next to Dani, said.

"Would someone PLEASE tell me what a shipper is?" a very frustrated Alexis said.

"A shipper is someone that invests emotionally in the relationship of someone else," explained Bailey. Since she was standing to the other side of Dani, she was able to easily jump in on the conversation.

"And all of these people," Alexis' eyes widened as she realized what it all meant, "are here for Dad and Detective Beckett?"

"Looks that way, kiddo," Martha said.

"We have our own shippers!" Rick said excitedly.

"He looks as excited as he did when they were going after that 'superhero,' doesn't he?" Bailey asked the group at large. (A lot of the shippers got a kick out of Castle's excitement in that episode. It was so nice to see a happy Castle after he was so serious in season three's finale and season four's premiere)

"Definitely," Dani and Gloria said in unison, along with most of the shippers in the first twenty or so rows.

The shippers' comments only fueled Rick's excitement. "This is so cool!"

"No, Castle, this is not 'cool,'" Kate snapped.

"If Castle says it's cool, it's cool," Pema burst out. The girl was also in the front row, but was a dozen or so people away from the other girls that had spoken. She, along with quite a few shippers (although not by any means all of them) had been getting progressively more and more irritated at the way the detective had been treating the writer (the three month absence had pushed many of them over the edge to where they were occasionally struggling with outright hostility towards the woman). Hearing even the small scolding just given to the man was enough to get Pema to speak out against it.

"Yeah," her friend, Ratima, agreed.

Kate couldn't keep from rolling her eyes at such a strong reaction to what she considered nothing more than a part of her and her partner's everyday banter.

"We got a classic Beckett eye-roll!" Ratima exclaimed, turning to Pema.

"All right!" Pema said, and the two quickly high-fived. In their exuberance they smacked hands a bit harder than they intended.

"Oww," they said in unison, shaking their stinging palms.

Kate didn't know how much more of this she could take. She needed to make this all go away, and soon. Unfortunately, the only idea that popped into her mind was telling Rick how she really felt. She was sure it would work, but she wasn't anywhere near ready to do that.

"Castle, we need to clear these people out of here," Kate said. She was careful to state it as diplomatically as possible. What she really wanted to say was 'Castle, we need to get these whackoess to leave, NOW.' But the reaction she had gotten from a simple scolding of Castle told the detective that the crowd was more supportive of him at the moment and she'd better tread carefully. Hoping she wouldn't regret her decision, she continued, "I'm open to dumb ideas here."

Kate was startled by the gasp that rippled through the crowd.

Why...?

"Gotta give the fans what they want," Rick muttered.

It dawned on Kate as Rick's lips touched hers that those were the very words she had uttered before they had acted like a drunk couple to fool a guard, done minutes before Rick had kissed to throw the guard even further off-track about what she and Rick were really doing. At the same time Kate realized something else: whatever control she may have had over the situation she found herself in was officially gone.

**Darn it, another cliff-hanger. Sorry about that. But it's late and I need to get up early for work tomorrow, so I better just post this and go to sleep. 'Night, all. Hopefully I'll have some reviews to greet me in the morning. Pretty please?**

**One other thing. Grace, I haven't forgotten-you and your friends will have a key role in the next chapter. :) Also, sorry to Gloria and Bailey-I put you guys in without you specifically asking me to. If you'd rather not be mentioned by name, let me know and I'll see what other shippers I can put in there. And Maddie, don't worry, I have plans for you in this story, too, but it will be towards the end. I'd give you a hint, but I don't want to give anything away. (It's so difficult for me to do that, considering how I LOVE spoilers, but I really try to keep in mind that I'm in the minority on that one) If there is anyone else that wants to be in this, I'll need a first name (it doesn't have to be your actual name, it can be whatever you want, just something you would recognize as being 'you' so you'll know when you're in the story). Sorry if I've forgotten anyone. If I have, PLEASE let me know. I don't want anyone to be left out of the fun. And Nat, sorry we're not in this chapter. It's because I was going to put us in the second half of this chapter, which has now become the next chapter.**

**Oops, I forgot one thing-I WILL be responding to all the reviews. Real life has just taken over for the last week or so. That, and the fact that I didn't want to wait any longer to post this next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Another chapter finally done. My muse has been really fickle this week. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to get this chapter done today until I started writing.**

**Disclaimer: What to say, what to say... If I owned this wonderful show, I would live in L.A. I don't-I haven't even visited there in over a decade-so I must not own Castle. Darn it.**

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><p><em>Was it real this time?<em>

Those were the only thoughts that could make it past Lizzie's suddenly over-stimulated brain. She hardly dared to hope. Over the last season of her favorite show, Lizzie's hopes had risen only to be dashed time after time. By the time the third season finale aired, her hope that Caskett would FINALLY get together had dwindled down to nothing. She had been stunned when she'd learned from one of her friends that lived in the southeastern part of the US (which meant that she was able to watch the show hours before Lizzie could) that Castle had told Beckett he loved her, not _once_ but _twice_! As much as she had pleaded, her friend wouldn't give her any more information than that, so when Lizzie had learned that it wasn't until the detective had been _shot_ that the writer had uttered the most important of declarations, Lizzie had been livid. She just _knew _that somehow the pair was going to act like the words had never been spoken. Proof had come in the form of spoiler interviews with Andrew Marlowe that she had read the next day. Lizzie was usually the type that watched episodes over and over, but during the four-month break, Lizzie hadn't re-watched the season finale even once. She hadn't even gone to YouTube to hear Castle's declaration over and over, as she was sure most other shippers had.

Lizzie felt lightheaded by the time the kiss finally ended. It took her a second to realize that was because she had forgotten to breathe. And although Lizzie hadn't brought a stopwatch to time the kiss, she was fairly certain this latest kiss had lasted at least twice as long as the second (and longer) undercover one had.

There was a beat of silence after the kiss ended, one in which each shipper clearly heard what sounded like a whimper of protest escape Beckett's lips.

Lizzie didn't care that it didn't make sense that she could hear such a small sound when she was standing so far away. She was just glad that she could hear pretty much everything that went on in front of the precinct as well as if she was still watching it on television. And if _that _reaction from Kate was real...

Apparently the rest of the shippers were of the same mind. The cheer from the crowd was deafening. Lizzie looked over at Nat to see that the other girl had tears in her eyes.

"So do you think it was real this time?" Nat whispered.

As she always did, Lizzie had watched for nuances during the kiss that would give her clues about what was really going on in the hearts and minds of Caskett.

"Well, Castle did mention giving the fans what they wanted," Lizzie whispered back, figuring that she'd get the 'proof' against a real kiss out of the way first.

"If that was the only reason he did it, he shouldn't have bothered," was Nat's response to that, irritation dripping from each word.

Lizzie couldn't argue with that. As much as she was elated to see a Caskett kiss, to have it be merely for show was more than she could take at the moment.

"But Beckett sure didn't seem to want the kiss to end," Nat continued after a moment's thought.

"And you know it would be real for Castle, regardless of why he did it," Lizzie pointed out.

Suddenly someone bumped into Nat, causing her to bump into Lizzie. The two girls turned to see who had dared to interrupt such an important conversation. It didn't take more than a moment for the girls' anger to drain away, once they realized what was going on: the girl that had bumped into Nat was in a heated argument with a group of other girls about the very topic Nat and Lizzie had been discussing.

"Grace, you're crazy!" KT snapped. She was standing to Grace's immediate right and had an expression on her face that clearly showed her exasperation with her friend. "There is no way that kiss was real!"

"Of course it was!" Cait, standing to the other side of KT, backed up Grace. "Didn't you hear Beckett's reaction after Castle pulled away?"

"Guys, come on," Abby said, "What does it matter? They kissed, isn't that enough?"

"NO!" was the heated response. Grace, Cait, and KT didn't want to waste one second giving credence to _that _idea.

"But is it really worth arguing over?" Emma asked.

"YES!" Grace, Cait and KT didn't hesitate to respond.

"I bet you $20 that the kiss was real," Grace said, pulling two ten-dollar bills out of her pocket.

"Fine," KT said and pulled a twenty dollar bill out of her own pocket, "then I bet you $20 that it wasn't."

"How are you going to find out, though?" Abby asked.

"Simple, we'll just ask them," Grace said.

"And how is that supposed to work?" Emma wanted to know. "Do you really think they'd tell us, even if they could hear us from clear back here?"

A sly smile formed on KT's lips. "I think we just found a way," she said and leaned over to ask Lizzie, "So what's your bet? $20 for or against the kiss being real?"

Lizzie wasn't quite sure what to say, mostly because she didn't have any money with her. But Nat, who had been on her way to buy groceries when she had suddenly found herself in front of the 4th wall over an hour ago, quickly said, "Put Lizzie and I down for $20 each that the kiss was real." In response to Lizzie's startled look, she said, "Just put me in your next fan fic and we'll call it even."

Lizzie grinned and said to KT, "The kiss was _definitely_ real."

"Who else wants to be in on the bet?" KT asked, rolling her eyes at Lizzie.

Shouts of "Me! Me! Me!" rippled throughout the crowd. Less than a minute later the betting had spread throughout the crowd. To make the betting go smoothly, people started saying either "For" meaning that the kiss was real, or "Against," which meant that it wasn't. The ones that felt the kiss was real folded their bills in half; those that felt the kiss was a fake left their bills lying flat. A flurry of hands kept the money continuously piling up in KT's arms. Grace and Cait quickly took over the job of sorting the bills, putting the folded money in Emma's arms and the unfolded money in Abby's.

Now the crowd only had to wait for Caskett to reveal the truth.

* * *

><p>"Put me down for $1,000 that the kiss was real," Lanie's voice rang out clearly. Mir, who had taken over collecting the money in the rows closest to the group in front of the precinct beamed at the M.E. as she took the money the dark-haired woman handed to her. The news that Lanie had placed a bet spread rapidly as the money was handed back.<p>

"Lanie!" Kate gasped. She hadn't been entirely surprised when the shippers started placing bets on the kiss, but she was shocked that Lanie would join in.

"Don't give me that, girl," Lanie replied. "Look at you! You wouldn't even be able to stand if Writer Boy wasn't holding you up."

Kate could do nothing more than stare at Lanie in shock, largely because her best friend was right. As soon as Rick's lips had touched hers, everything else had faded away for Kate. The detective wasn't totally against PDA's (after all, she had kissed both Demming and Josh at the precinct) but she couldn't imagine ever being comfortable kissing the man in front of his mother and daughter, not to mention the crowd that she knew was watching her every move and hanging on her every word. But as soon as Rick's arms had wrapped around her the man had her complete and undivided attention. With all of the emotions that she'd been dealing with since she had been shot, Kate found that her powers of resistance were seriously compromised. The last time they had kissed, she'd been able to keep her mind largely on the task at hand-well, except for those last few seconds when she'd let that mortifying moan escape. This time all she could think was that she wanted _more_-more of his arms around her, more of his kisses, more of those intense looks, more of _him_. At that moment, Kate doubted whether she'd ever get enough, even if they both lived more than one hundred years.

"She's right, dear," Martha's voice pulled Kate from her thoughts. "Put me down for $1,000," the actress said to Mir. She handed the money to the girl and then said to Kate, "I know my boy, and that kiss was definitely real for him, too."

"She's got me there," Rick whispered in Kate's ear, the feeling of his lips so close to her skin making Kate shiver. "The question is, was it real for you, too?"

"Castle-" Kate hated the way his name came out sounding like a cross between a sigh and a moan, but there was nothing she could do about it at the moment, not with him standing so close, especially since the man had just barely finished kissing her senseless.

"Just a simple yes or no would do, Kate," Rick prompted when she didn't say anything else.

Kate opened her mouth to deny that the kiss was anything other than a part of the plan to get rid of the shippers. Instead, she said, "Yes."

Rick did a quick fist pump in reaction. He then took Kate completely off-guard when he picked her up and twirled her around, setting her back on her feet with another quick kiss.

Kate couldn't help but laugh in response. She decided that she could give him this small victory. Not that it meant that her wall was down. Far from it. Admitting that she was attracted to the man was a far cry from telling Rick that she loved him.

And she was nowhere near ready to do that.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmmm...I debated making this chapter extra long and put the next part in, but this seemed like a good place to stop. But my muse still has a lot of energy left, so I think maybe I'll start on the next chapter... As always, I love to hear what you think. And since I think there are only two chapters left, this is one of the last times to tell me if you want to be put in the story.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, I was trying to decide between writing another chapter and FINALLY replying to reviews when I decided I would just see if I could get any more of the next chapter done. (I'd only had the first line done before tonight) This chapter spilled out as easily as the rest, so I just went with it.**

**Warning-I'm cranking the 'crack' of this fiction up a notch. (Like it was so incredibly plausible before LOL) But really, this is where I started to worry that it was getting TOO unrealistic. But I fell in love with the idea when I came up with it so I knew it had to be done.**

**Disclaimer: If Andrew Marlowe would come up with something like this, he would be much more of an abstract thinker than I ever realized. Oh, and I don't own 'The Little Mermaid'-you'll figure out why I said that as you read, and no, I don't add any mermaids into this story. Although maybe another story somewhere down the line...**

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" Lizzie shouted as she and Nat gripped each others' hands, jumping up and down excitedly.

All around them, fellow shippers were in a similar state of euphoria. Lizzie giggled when she saw Nikki and Kandi 'feeding the birds.' As many times as she had seen that particular Castlesque substitute for the traditional high five (or the adorable Castle fist pump) it had never occurred to her to learn the congratulatory ritual.

Kris, standing next to Nikki and Kandi, knew that a major step forward had been taken with Beckett's admission to Castle, and to the shippers, that the kiss was real. But she also noticed something else: the detective's wall remained firmly in place. Beckett may have acknowledged an attraction to Castle (which was so obvious that for anyone other than the walled off Beckett it wouldn't have been much of an admission at all) but she had yet to confess her feelings to the man. Until Beckett said, "I love you, Castle" or at least "You make all the songs make sense," Kris would continue to push, as would all the rest of the shippers.

"So, what now?" Nat asked.

Nat's question was repeated throughout the throng of shippers. Within a minute after Beckett's confession, every shipper had come to the same conclusion Kris had.

"Songs!" Kris's shout made Nikki and Kandi jump.

"What do you mean?" Nikki asked.

"The songs make sense!" Kris said excitedly.

"You're in love?" Nikki wondered. A moment later, she shook her head. "No, wait. You mean that maybe some Caskett songs might work to break down the wall?"

"There's a lot of Lighthouse songs," Nat offered. Many shippers had become fans of the musical group through watching their favorite show.

"Not just any Caskett song," Kris said. "THE Caskett song."

"The Caskett song?" Nikki asked, puzzled.

" 'You Talk Too Much,' by Clarence Carter," Lizzie supplied promptly.

"Got it!" Kandi said, holding out her I-Phone victoriously. Turning the volume up as loud as she could, the girl pushed the correct button and the chorus started to play.

Lizzie found it odd that everyone in the crowd seemed to be able to hear the song coming through that one device, but she quickly shrugged it off. After all, what about this whole situation could actually be considered _normal_?

"Now, sing!" Kris commanded.

Lizzie was tempted to try to mimic the song from 'The Little Mermaid'-Kris had sounded entirely too much like Ursula the sea witch when she'd said that. But the situation they were dealing with was much too serious for Lizzie to give in to her strange sense of humor now.

"Look!" Kandi suddenly burst out, pointing towards the precinct.

At first, Lizzie thought the girl's reaction a bit odd. Everyone was _already _looking towards the precinct. But then she noticed that there was a green mist surrounding Beckett.

Which made her wonder...

"Yeah, sing!" Lizzie cried.

Lizzie wasn't entirely certain what was going on, but she was positive whatever was happening was caused by the song playing.

The chorus had played through once, and Kandi pressed the necessary button so it would repeat. Lizzie and all of the other shippers that knew the song joined in. By the time that run of the chorus was over, the green object surrounding Beckett was no longer a mist Instead, it was a solid-looking substance that resembled a very large emerald.

As the entire crowd started singing along when the chorus played for a third time, the emerald-looking substance started to change.

_You talk too much_

Lizzie's eyes went wide and she exchanged a quick glance of disbelief with Nat. If she didn't know any better she would say that whatever it was looked a lot like...

_You worry me to death_

"No way," Kris breathed.

_You talk so much_

There was no doubt about it now. The substance, whatever it was, had taken a definite shape.

_You even worry my pet_

"Does Beckett have a pet?" Nikki wondered aloud. At Kandi's quick headshake, Nikki's let out a bemused, "Huh." She couldn't figure out why Beckett would have picked out a song that didn't completely fit her relationship with the writer. After all, there were so many _perfect_ Caskett songs out there.

_You just ta-a-a-a-alk_

The substance now completely blocked Beckett from the crowd's view. Everyone in the first few rows closest to the detective let out a Castle-like screech when they saw Beckett's arms suddenly appear on either side. After a brief moment they realized that the detective was trying to pull the object out of her way. Instead, her hands went through it as if it was nothing more than the mist it had originally appeared as.

_You talk too much_

Everyone in the crowd realized at the same time what had happened. Kate Beckett's wall had become visible. If they hadn't been so stunned, many of them would have burst out laughing. For the 'wall' had taken the shape of a medieval castle. And right in the middle of the 'drawbridge' was a gleaming cluster of cherries leaning against a bright red apple.

**So what did you guys think? A little TOO weird? Any doubts that I have a unique sense of humor have been officially obliterated. That 'Little Mermaid' thing just popped into my head when I wrote it. Usually when that happens it's something that sounds like something Caskett said...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Not a new chapter, just a quick correction. But I'll be posting the last chapter in just a second.**

**I really wish my muse would stop changing my mind! This was going to be the last chapter, but now it is going to be split into two. Mainly so that I can post this part now. And it was another one of those places that seemed like the perfect stopping point. I really thought with four days off I would be able to finish this story and the next chapter for "The Beckett Clones" done and posted, but real life got in the way. And then when I did had the time to write, my muse decided to take a vacation. Very annoying.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the show, I would have a say in when Caskett gets together. Obviously, I don't. Sigh.**

* * *

><p>Kate reminded herself not to panic. She needed to remain calm and in control. She needed to think this through like the cop she was and come up with a plan to get herself out of this mess.<p>

Unfortunately, not one idea came to mind.

It would help if she could figure out what was going on. But this whole situation was so far out of her realm of experience that she wouldn't even know where to start.

But Castle might.

"Castle?" Kate called out to the writer tentatively, hating the undercurrent of fear in her voice.

"It's your wall, Kate," Rick told her. "The shippers have just made it visible."

Kate's eyes widened. Until now, the whole situation had been at least somewhat tethered to reality. But that connection had been officially and abruptly severed.

"So what do I do now?" Kate asked.

"_We_ will figure it out," Rick assured her, his eyes full of determination. He reached over and took her hand in his. The calm that flooded her at his touch caught Kate by surprise. He then looked back out at the crowd. "Either that, or _they_ will."

* * *

><p>"Castle doesn't look happy," Janeen said worriedly from her place towards the back of the crowd.<p>

"I'm not surprised," Vicki said. "Beckett's probably freaking out right now."

It took only a matter of seconds for the same realization to come to the rest of the shippers.

"We have to do something, quick," Leana said.

"But what?" Megan asked.

Lizzie wished she knew. Normally she was full of ideas, especially in regards to Caskett. But her concern for Beckett made it difficult for her to think straight.

"Castle loves Kate," Sensaiman said.

Lizzie turned a baffled gaze at the shipper that stood only a couple rows away.

"We know that," Nat said, the frustration in her tone evident.

"_She_ knows that," Lizzie added.

"Maybe she needs to be reminded," Sensaiman said thoughtfully.

Reminded...

That's when Lizzie knew what the other shipper was getting at.

"Kate, Castle loves you!" Lizzie shouted.

Nat, who had understood what Sensaiman meant at the same time Lizzie did shouted next, "Castle loves you, Kate!"

"That is _never_ going to work," said a shipper whose voice Lizzie didn't recognize.

Lizzie's eyes widened slightly when she saw the girl that had spoken. She only knew her by her penname, MoreThanAMuse, but Lizzie recognized the shipper by her profile picture on the fan fiction site.

"It will!" Lizzie insisted.

"There is nothing logical about it," the doubting shipper said.

"There's nothing logical about this whole thing!" Lizzie started forward, pushing people out of the way until she stood almost nose to nose with the other shipper.

Nat hurried to catch up with her. She couldn't believe the hostility radiating from her usually calm friend. Although Lizzie _could_ get ridiculously riled when it came to Caskett...

"Liz, you're going to need to calm down," Nat said, putting a restraining hand on the other girl's arm.

"But she could ruin the whole thing!" Lizzie cried.

"No, she won't," Nat said. "She's just an unusually logical shipper, someone that thinks more like Beckett than Castle. But she's still a shipper. Otherwise, she wouldn't be here. And _no _shipper wants to ruin things for Caskett."

"She seriously thinks I would _want_ to hurt Caskett?" MoreThanAMuse asked, aghast. "I want to make sure that we _don't _ruin things for Caskett by trying crazy things that won't work."

"But it is working," Sensaiman said, starting the girls' out of their argument.

The three turned their attention back to the front of the precinct to see that there _was_ a slight change to the wall-the wall had thinned enough that each shipper could see Beckett on the other side.

"But we need more," Sensaiman went on.

"What do you mean more?" Nat asked.

"You guys might have been too caught up in Lizzie's minor meltdown to notice," Sensaiman said, "but a bunch of shippers have been yelling what you guys did. But the wall hasn't changed since you guys started."

"So what else can we do?" Lizzie asked. The discussion had sufficiently distracted her so that most of her ire at MoreThanAMuse was gone.

"Americans and English speakers aren't the only shippers," Sensaiman said slowly. "Maybe if they all say the words in their own languages, it might make a difference."

As soon as the idea started being whispered from one person to the next, bilingual shippers began to shout the declaration in the other languages they knew.

"Kate, Castle ohev otach!" Dani, fluent in Hebrew, started the ball rolling.

"Castle le ama, Kate!" Gloria said, giving the Spanish translation.

"Kate, Castle houd van je!" Mir offered in Dutch.

"Castle vous aime, Kate!" The French translation rolled easily off Ratima's tongue.

"Kate liebt Castle Sie!" Pema said, surprising Ratima, who didn't know her friend knew German.

"Castle rakastaa sinua, Kate!" Bailey stated emphatically in Finnish.

"Kate, elsker Castle deg!" Megan's Norwegian offering came from the back of the crowd.

"Castle ti ama, Kate!" Leana, also from the back of the crowd, yelled in Italian.

Other shippers kept it going, repeating Castle's declaration in Chinese, Russian, Hawaiian and a whole slew of other languages.

Maddie, only a few rows away from the very front of the crowd, was startled to feel a slight pressure on her hands as soon as Lizzie and Nat had put Sensaiman's idea into action. The pressure turned into a definite weight as other shippers yelled Castle's all-important declaration in English.

But it was when the translations of the declaration started that an object began to appear in Maddie's hands. By the time the last shipper had gone quiet, Maddie found herself holding a solid gold trumpet.

A grin formed on Maddie's lips as she realized _exactly_ what her role was going to be.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't worry; I'm keeping track of which one of you hasn't been in the story yet. Tori, your part will be coming up in this next (and I'm 99.9% certain last) chapter.<strong>

**The rest I either gave a second small part in this chapter or you'll be given one in the next. According to my notes, that would be Grace and co., Kandi and Nikki and Kris. Let me know if I've forgotten anyone.**

**Also, just because I LOVE the idea, there is a Castle secret Santa challenge in the 'story' "Secret Santa 2011." There are only 13 of us signed up so far last I checked, so I want to let as many people know about the idea as I can.**

**And last but not least, please let me know what you think. Sorry if I got any translations wrong; I primarily used the Google translator.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, a couple days late, but here is the LAST chapter of this crazy story. What a fun way to spend the last couple hours before watching 'Cuffed.' I think I will post this and then go see what spoilers I can find...**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, I wouldn't NEED spoilers!**

* * *

><p>It wasn't until Kate's wall appeared that Rick started to wonder if maybe the shippers would cause more harm than good. Considering that they were shippers, he knew what their ultimate objective was: to get him and Kate together. But the writer knew from experience that trying to rush Kate, trying to push her into making a decision prematurely, was never going to work. Although there were times that the slow development of their relationship drove him crazy, he knew it would all be worth it in the end.<p>

Rick had a feeling that the shippers' patience had just about run out.

If their impatience caused them to do something that would make him lose Kate, he didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive them. He knew that they would never forgive themselves. But the pain they would experience would only be a faint hint of what he would be going through.

When he felt Kate's hand tremble in his own, Rick decided he would give the shippers one more minute before he implemented his own plan.

He just wished he had one.

What the shippers finally came up with was the last thing Rick had expected. He listened as one shipper after another yelled out Rick's own love for Kate.

_Kate, Castle loves you! Castle loves you, Kate!_

How did the shippers even _know_ about that? Kate was the only one that could have possibly heard him. There was no way the general public could have heard his whispered words. If they had, he was sure that it would have been on page 6 in the society magazine.

But then, these shippers weren't the general public. For whatever reason, this crowd had the power to truly have an impact on his relationship with Kate. The wall surrounding the detective was proof of that.

It made Rick glad they were on his side.

When the clear words the shippers shouted turned to gibberish (it wasn't until he heard the words in Chinese that he realized that they were shouting the same thing, just in a bunch of different languages) Rick turned to look at Kate.

Relief flooded him when he realized that he could see Kate through her green wall. For whatever reason, the shippers' plan seemed to be working.

When Rick saw the shocked expression on Kate's face, dread replaced his relief. Had the shippers' words brought the memory back to Kate? Or was she just surprised at the certainty of the crowd about his feelings?

The silence that suddenly blanketed the crowd seemed to have its own sound as it vibrated against Rick's ears. A moment later an unfamiliar sound broke through.

_Was that a trumpet?_ Rick wondered. He tried to place the brief tune, but he knew it was one he had never heard before.

"It will be okay, Kate," he promised, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Castle, I think-" Kate started to say.

And that's when the wall exploded.

* * *

><p>Maddie lifted the golden trumpet to her lips as soon as she saw that Beckett's wall was shaking.<p>

_Any second now,_ she thought to herself, placing her fingers in position for the first note. She didn't have to think about what tune to play. There was only one that would work for Caskett.

Once there was a beat of silence, showing that all of the shippers that knew a foreign language had stated Castle's most important of declarations, Maddie played the Castle 'theme song,' a tune that lasted less than a handful of seconds. The last note had barely faded when she heard the explosion, one that sounded shockingly similar to when Beckett's old apartment had blown up all those months ago.

The shippers in the front rows of the crowd quickly ducked as fragments of the wall headed straight for them. A few shippers had multiple fragments miss them by mere inches.

"Liz, duck!" Nat shouted, yanking her friend out of the way as pieces of the wall came at them from both sides. Lizzie quickly ducked and covered her head with her arms, wincing when she felt a sharp edge scrape one of her elbows.

"I got one!" Tori shouted, holding up a piece of the wall that was almost as big as her hand, waving it around excitedly. "I got a piece of Beckett's wall!"

"Hey, watch where you aim that thing!" Kris snapped as the object bumped her in the side.

"You say that as if it's a good thing," Grace said to Tori.

"Are you kidding?" Tori cried. "It's a piece of _Beckett's _wall!"

"Exactly," KT said. "The wall that has kept her from Castle for over three seasons now."

"If it wasn't for that _wall_, Caskett would have probably gotten together at the end of season two," Cait pointed out.

"I wouldn't mind having a piece of the wall," Abby admitted.

"You have got to be kidding!" Grace, KT and Cait said in unison.

"I'm with Abby," Emma said. "I mean, it's a piece of Beckett. It's a true souvenir. It would be a constant reminder that there's nothing left to keep Caskett apart."

"I don't care what any of you think," Tori said, irritated that anyone would try to ruin the moment for her. She agreed with Abby and Emma, but she refused to join the argument. "I caught it, and I'm keeping it."

* * *

><p>Kate immediately dropped to the ground when she heard the explosion. She shuddered as memories of her shooting flashed through her mind. One moment she was giving the Captain's eulogy, the next she was down on the ground, struggling to breathe.<p>

_Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate._

The memory of Rick's whispered words swirled around in Kate's mind, taking the edge off of the horror.

Kate was a little surprised at her emotional reaction to the memory. Those words had been her lifeline those first minutes after being shot. But as soon as she'd gotten out of surgery, the fear had come back. Fear of letting her mom down, fear of losing Rick, either because of the danger her mom's case put them in or because she couldn't let the case go and he ended up walking away. For months, having solid evidence of Rick's feelings had only compounded Kate's fears. For it to bring a measure of peace now was a bit disconcerting.

"It's okay, Kate," she heard Rick whisper. The sound of his voice calmed her trembling. Once her shaking subsided, she realized that he was hunched down beside her, lightly stroking her hair with one hand, his other hand holding both of hers.

Kate didn't understand the peace that flooded her at his touch. His touch, even the tone of his voice, had always had an emotional impact on her. But not like this. Usually it gave her the strength she needed to gather her resolve and do what needed to be done.

This time, it made her want to let go.

For once, she didn't want to have to be the strong one.

She actually wanted to lean on someone.

No, not someone.

Rick.

Kate didn't fight the tears that filled her eyes. She didn't fight the man she loved as he gathered her into his arms. And she didn't fight the words her heart ached to finally say.

"Rick, I love you," she whispered brokenly. "I love you, Rick."

* * *

><p>"She said it! She said it! She said it!" Lizzie cried, jumping up and down excitedly.<p>

Nat, too overcome for words, broke out into her 'happy dance.'

"It worked," MoreThanAMuse said, stunned. "It actually worked!"

Sensaiman felt all frustration at Andrew Marlowe and company drain away at the sight of Kate finally in Castle's arms.

"Yes!" cried Kandi and Nikki.

Grace, KT, Cait, Emma and Abby formed a group hug, all of them crying unashamedly.

Tori hugged the piece of Beckett's wall in her hands, a beaming smile on her face.

Megan and Leana started the chant that swept through the crowd:

"Caskett! Caskett! Caskett!"

"Finally," Vicki said with a sigh of relief.

Janeen, giddy at the sight of one of her favorite couples FINALLY together, could only laugh at Vicki's comment.

Towards the front of the crowd, the celebration was every bit as jubilant, but taking their proximity to Caskett, a bit lower in volume.

Mir, Dani, Bailey and Gloria all exchanged high-fives with Lanie.

Pema and Ratima exchanged a high-five with each other.

And Maddie watched as the trumpet in her hand faded away with a feeling of satisfaction.

Finally, after more than three seasons that spanned at least two years for Caskett, Kate Beckett's wall was finally gone.

* * *

><p><strong>It always amazes me how a story can surprise me. I wasn't expecting to show everyone's reaction to Kate FINALLY telling Castle how she feels. But hey, that just meant that most of you were in the story THREE times. :)<strong>

**So...? I don't think this one had as much humor, but maybe the level of fluffy angst (that's the only thing I can think to call it) made up for it.**


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